Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Australia 2003

[Excerpt] Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Australia 2003 is descriptive in nature. When the ILO commissioned the researchers for the Country Study Series, each was asked to follow the comprehensive research protocol appended to this document. The resulting report therefore includes country background information, statistics about people with disabilities and their organizations, a description of relevant legislation and policies and their official implementing structures, as well as the education, training and employment options available to people with disabilities. While few countries have all such information readily available, researchers were asked to note the existence or lack of specific data points and to report data when it did exist. Since the lack of information about people with disabilities contributes to their invisibility and social exclusion, the information itself is important. The protocol called for limited analysis and did not specifically ask for the researchers recommendations, however, researchers were asked to report on existing plans and recommendations of significant national stakeholders

Curriculum Developers’ Experiences Adopting Assistive Technology In An Educator Preparation Program

Assistive technology competencies are not always included within the curriculum for teacher candidates. The lack of assistive technology content can result in teachers being unprepared to support the academic and social needs of students with significant disabilities in a general education classroom. Required courses in educator preparation programs for assistive technology have declined over the last decade. The problem addressed in this study was the absence of data about how teacher educators perceive their roles and responsibilities in learning about assistive technology and integrating the necessary competencies into the standard educator preparation curriculum. This interpretive phenomenological analysis study explored the experiences of higher education leaders when providing training to preservice teachers about assistive technology (AT). Two research questions guided this study. One of the questions asked curriculum developers about their lived experiences and beliefs of including assistive technology content into teacher preparation curriculum. The second research question pertained to curriculum developers’ lived experiences and beliefs about preparing teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for collaboration within inclusive schools. The participants for this study included higher education leaders charged with influence over curriculum development for an educator preparation program. Data were collected using a phenomenological interview protocol to gain an understanding of the meaning participants attribute to experiences with curriculum development for teacher candidates. Five themes transpired from the data analysis, including: 1) lack of knowledge, 2) lack of AT adoption, 3) willingness to innovate, 4) need for collaboration, and 5) established norms/mental models. Several recommendations for the development and improvement of educator preparation curriculum emerged from the findings. Embedding assistive technology into the coursework for teacher candidates is warranted to ensure adequate preparation is acquired for supporting students with significant disabilities in a general education classroom

Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines

Disabling Access: Barriers to Eye Gaze Technology for Students with Disabilities

Major Research Paper (Master's), Critical Disability Studies, School of Health Policy and Management,Faculty of Health, York UniversityThe MRP concludes that scientific and biomedical models of disability have historically shaped government policy responses to disability and continue to do so today. Canadian policy and programs meant to facilitate access to Eye Gaze technology are guided by scientific understandings of disability, which embed systematic, procedural and training barriers into policy programs that are supposed to provide funding support to overcome financial barriers. A list of 10 classroom recommendations for barrier free access to Eye Gaze technology is presented using the social model approach, to help parents, educators and support workers identify and eliminate obstacles for users. The MRP ends with a call for further discussion and scholarship of Eye Gaze technology in classrooms, which provides readers with 6 recommended areas of Eye Gaze technology research